Carolina: Finding Peace
by Darman Dark-Void
Summary: Follow Carolina as she and Epsilon travel the universe to find the the truth about Project Free lancer. All the while facing new threats and memories.
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

"its over. All of it?"

"yes."

"project free lancer, the Director, everything."

"that's right."

"Now what?"

"I don't know."

Agent Carolina stood in front of a long line of grave stones. The tiny hologram of epsilon floating beside her head. She looked at each of the stones. Names of friends filled her mind. Friends that had fallen in battle and from the struggle against Maine, the Meta. The hulking free lancer that went mad and tried to kill everyone just to get his hands on their A.I.'s. Altho it wasn't entirely his fault. The A.I. They implanted in his head was the one that pushed him over the edge. It drove ideas into his mind the idea that he could be whole if they gathered all of the A.I.'s. But that idea died along with all the other A.I.'s when Washington activated the EMP at Free Lancer command.

Maine didn't stop their, after the event he was enraged and was further fueled to complete the ideas that his A.I. Sigma had put in his mind. The conquest eventually led to his demise when he confronted Agent Texas and the Reds and Blues from the small secluded base in the middle of nowhere. The brute was out matched and was send to a watery grave, along with a warthog and a pelican.

The names that grabbed her attention the most were Texas and York. In her time at PFL she had learned to hate Agent Texas because she was better then her in every way. No matter how hard she tried she could never beat her. It wasn't until too late that she realized who and what Texas was. Her mother. And a memory, a shadow as C.T. Called her. Carolina barely remembered her mother. She died when she was very young. She always had a smile on her face, was the toughest woman in the room and she fought for what she believed in. in the end that is what killed her. One time when she was on deployment in the military fighting to defend her planet her transport was shot down and she was killed in the crash.

Carolina loved her mom but not the memory that took her place. And the obsession that drove her father to create Project Free Lancer and do the things he did. Just to bring her back. And York her friend from the very beginning. The memory of losing him stung more than the others. And to be honest she loved him and deep down, she wanted to be with him. She knew that he felt the same. Now he's gone. She pulled out a small silver lighter. The orange logo emblazoned on its side of the club they met in shone in the sunlight. She sighed tears formed and rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them away with her free hand. "you okay?" Epsilon asked. She inhaled deeply. "ya just fine." she pocketed the lighter and continued down the line of graves touching each one with a gloved hand.

C.T. North Dakota, South Dakota, Georgia, Wyoming, Texas, York, the list went on. When she reached the end she turned back. Epsilon floating close by. "its time I moved on. I've made my peace with everything and everyone." Epsilon knew that wasn't true if it was she would have left the lighter. But it wasn't his place to judge. She walked off she slide her helmet in place over her head. The seals hissed and locked in place. She looked at Epsilon. "did you want to say anything?" he looked at her and looked to the graves. "no, I made my peace long ago." with that they left the grave yard.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter: 1**_

_**The beginning**_

Carolina climbed into the pilots seat of her pelican and pushed forward on the throttle. The ship lurched and rose into the air. "do you regret not staying with your team?" Epsilon appeared from one of the consuls. "no. they will be just fine, their on their way back home. Back to Blood Gultch where it all begin. Where we met Tex, Tucker had his kid, when we stopped a crazed plan to take over the alien race through tuckers kid."

"sounds like you guys one hell of a life before you got dragged into Project Free Lancer and all of its messed up problems." she giggled a little, and she smiled. Probably the first time in years.

"so where to now?" Epsilon asked. She typed in a set of co-ordinates into the computer and hit enter. "I thought we would go stop a pick up of PFL equipment. Its close by and it could be the first in a line of raids to topple this group of worthless mercenary thugs." Epsilon nodded, or what passed as a nod when you're a holographic image and being used to living life in a mechanized body. "sounds like it could be fun. Just one question. How are we going to fight when we have no weapons?" "simple, we are going to raid a military installation there are bound to be weapons laying around everywhere. And if we use stealth we wont even have to fire a single shot."

the pelican exited the planets atmosphere and Carolina shoved the slip space drive into full. Stars streaked passed as the ship shot through space at speeds that couldn't be measured. "in two hours we will be at planet UnEarth. Once their we can stock up on rations and supplies. From their we can gather information on where the drop is going to happen and when. Then we can set up and ambush them." she slid out from the pilots seat and headed into the back of the ship. A makeshift bed made out of three of the troop seats was the most defining feature. She sat down and took off her helmet. Epsilon appeared in the room with her. "just one thing. I don't think the locals are going to take too kindly to a fully armored soldier walking down the streets. And its kind of a dead give away to the mercs as well."

he was right she couldn't go around in her armor. Its sea-foam green color and heavy look would be way to obvious. Carolina laid down on the bed, letting her head rest on a cushion of one of the seats. She would have to think of something. long minutes ticked by and turned to an hour but Carolina was unable to get any sleep. She sat up and pulled out the lighter. She flicked it open and a small flame spouted from the end. She flicked it closed again and the flame was extinguished. She looked at the logo on the side and ran her thumb over the embossed design. "you're still up?" epsilon appeared in front of her. "can't sleep." she replied.

"you'll need all the rest you can get with the plan you have in mind."

she nodded. "I know."

"any idea how to get around the cities without too much attention?" he asked.

"yes actually, I was thinking that I pose as a bounty hunter like Wyoming was back when things started to fall apart. That way I don't look out of place in armor and we can make some money that we desperately need on the side." she never thought she would have to stoop so low as to selling her services.

"Not a bad plan. Maybe you can get a contact or two that could hook us up with weapons and gear. As well as gather information for us." the two of them planned everything out over the rest of the flight. Te instruments in the cockpit rang indicating that they were getting close to their destination. Carolina stood up and twisted her hips side to side, loosening up. Then she grabbed her helmet from the seat and made her way back into the cockpit. She sat down and flicked off the auto pilot. She dropped the ship out of slip space. The streaks of stars became little white dots in the world once again. The out line of a planned could be seen in the distance the massive star that was this galaxies center shone bright.

Carolina activated the shades on the view port and the overwhelming light faded to a minor inconvenience. Carolina headed for the Fifth planet in the system. As they got closer they got a communication hail. She opened the channel to the hail. "This is UnEarth control. State your name and purpose for your visit to this system."

"My name is Carolina Church, by business is recreational only." There was a pause on the other end of the com. "We don't have you in our system."

"This is my first visit to the system."

"I see. We will have to ask that you check in with security when you land."

"Understandable." She said.

"That is all. Please head to docking bay D-21."

"Copy that." Carolina lifted her finger off of the com button. The ship pasted through the atmosphere of the planet and parted the dense clouds in the sky. Carolina weaved the ship between high standing towers. Each with a turret the size of her pelican mounted on top. She followed the coordinates that the security tower had given her. They led to a massive structure that looked as old as the old cities on Earth its self. _Must be from humanities first settlement. _She thought to her self. Epsilon appeared beside her. "Actually the structure predates human existence all together. However it does resemble human design in every way, curious." Epsilon disappeared in a flash of blue light. As the pelican grew closer to the structure a landing pad extended outward and began flashing. The way point on her screen changed from the building to the landing pad its self. Carolina began her decent. She activated the landing gear and it lowered down and locked into place.

The pelican touched down the landing gear gave way just a little as the ships weight came to rest on the three sets of wheels. Carolina eased the engines off. The engines turned from a brilliant blue blaze to purple then to red. The heated metal hissed and heat could be seen rising off of the engines. Slowly they turned back to black. Carolina finished her shut down double checking that the slip space drive was off and cooling down after its long run. Then she engaged the safeties and walked to the back of the ship. She picked up her pistol from the makeshift bed and checked the systems inside her helmet. When she was ready she punched the rear hatch release. Slowly the door lowered revealing more and more of the hanger. During her shut down procedure the landing pad had receded back inside the structure and sealed back up. She walked down the ramp and was met by two uniformed men. Both shorted then she was but given that she was genetically modified to be better then the average human in every way, that wasn't hard. One of the men was young he had short dark hair and matching eyes. He looked barely old enough to enlist. His uniform was loose on him. It had a fresh look to it pristine, like it was brand new. He quivered when she looked at him. _Hes nervous. _She thought about what she must look like to him. A little over a foot taller then him wearing battle scorn heavy military grade armor and a thin band across her eyes as a visor, tinted so he couldn't see her face. She reached up and popped the seal on her helmet and lifted it off. The young man jumped back a step but regained his posture when he saw that she was quiet pretty under her helmet. Her long red hair fell down over her face. Lightly she brushed it back over her ear and gave him a smile. He nodded at her. His face turning a little red.

The other man accompanying him was the opposite he was an older man probably in his late fifties, a seasoned veteran for sure. He stood tall and proud his uniform was worn but was well kept. He had several metals on his lapel such as the purple heart and metal of bravery. His features were ridged and sharp. A scar covering most of the left side of his lower face and neck was the most prominent feature about him. "Miss Carolina Church?" He asked his voice low and stern. Carolina tucked her helmet under her arm and nodded. "Yes that's me." she said. He lifted his hand to the younger man and he handed him a clip board and pen. _Old fashion. Everything is done by computer now isn't it? _"we just have a few questions for you then you may be on your way." he clicked the pen and steadied the clipboard against his arm and his rib cage. "You mentioned to the tower that this was a recreational visit?" Carolina nodded. "Yes I was passing through the system and I needed to refuel so I decided that I may as well stick around for a while." the veteran wrote something down on the paper but she couldn't see what it was. "Now judging by your armor you look like a mercenary of sort. And your carrying a firearm on you, yes?" Again Carolina nodded and responded semi-truthfully to him. "Yes I am a mercenary. And yes this is a firearm I'm carrying I have no intentions of using it. Its just a habit that I have to keep a weapon on me at all times. Makes me feel safe." She said smiling again. The man wrote something down again. He flipped over the page. "Okay that's about it just a few things for you to sign stating that you agree to the laws that are set in place for visitors to the planet. As well I am to inform you that there is a strict law in place stating that off world mercenary's are not to accept jobs her unless it is approved by the government." Carolina took the clipboard from the veteran and looked over the pages memorizing everything at first glance. At the bottom was a line for her to sign. She took the pen and printed C Church. then handed the clipboard back to the man who then handed it to the younger man beside him.

With that the two men turned and took their leave. Carolina walked off in the opposite direction. Her heavy boots clanking against the metal floor with every step. The hanger was filled with other ships mostly pelicans like hers from the war. But occasionally she would come across a high end civilian ship that was way out of her price range but was certainly nice to look at. At the end of the long hanger was an elevator she pushed the button for the ground floor. Glass doors closed behind her and the elevator shot down. She was at the bottom in no time. She looked both ways the streets were packed traffic on the streets had come to a crawl as people and aliens alike crossed the road. It was a wonder none of them got run over. Carolina headed down the street in a random direction. "Do you even know where you're going?" Epsilon asked. His voice filled her ear. She smiled at the comment. "No idea, but I figure that I'll come across a hotel at some point and if not I'm sure there is at least one helpful person here." she walked down the street for close to four blocks or, thirty minutes. All of the people made it hard to move every few steps she would bump into someone. Finally she caved and asked a woman sitting at a cafe alone if she knew where a hotel was. "How long have you been walking?" she asked. Carolina stepped back at the question. "About forty minutes now." the woman giggled. Well you came from the hanger which I'm assuming you did. You have been walking forty minutes in the wrong direction." _Son of a Bitch!_ "Sorry but the hotel is just one block from the hanger the other way." Carolina looked at the ground. Then back to the woman. She was very beautiful. She had long flowing blonde hair and emerald green eyes. A smile that would make most men crumble she had on a white T-shirt and blue boot-cut jeans with two inch heel boots. She wasn't dressed to impress but she could pull it off anyway. "Anyways I should be getting back home. Wouldn't want to keep my husband waiting." She slid a small brown purse over her shoulder. "If you'd like I could give you a lift to the hotel. Its on my home anyway."

"Oh no I couldn't." she said holding a out.

"I insist please. These streets can be a real hassle unless you know your way around it all." the woman smiled.

Carolina smiled back. "Okay." she said.

The two women rounded the corner and into the cafe parking lot. The woman pulled out a pair of keys and clicked the unlock button. A small red car in the back flashed its lights. "I don't think I will fit in your car." Carolina said standing next to it now. The woman opened the driver side door and slid into the seat. "Non-sense if my husband can fit so can you. Just move the seat back." Carolina did as instructed. She slid into the seat next to her and surprisingly the small car was able to fit her and her armor. "My names Stephanie by the way." Carolina looked at her. "my names. Carolina." she said after a brief pause.

"Its nice to meet you Carolina." Stephanie said.

"Its nice to meet you too." Carolina smiled.

The ride to the hotel was faster then her walk to the cafe. It only took a quarter of the time.

"Well thank you for the ride. Hope to see you around sometime." Carolina didn't know what else to say so she said good bye and walked away. Behind her the small car started up and pulled away. The sound of its engine trailing off and was soon replaced by the every growing sound off people chatting all around her. She walked inside the building and headed to the clerk. The hotel must have been much larger then it looked from the outside. The reception hall alone was massive with fifty foot ceilings and crystal chandelier hanging from the center. The room itself was painted a soft off white with a red carpet covering most of the floor. The main desk was a hand crafted mahogany wood with gold leaf embossed patterns filling the faces of the desk. The clerk was a young woman. She looked forced happy by the managers of the hotel. As she approached the desk the woman's smile faded to a frown. I'm sorry miss. This establishment may be just out of your price range. Carolina smirked at the woman behind the desk in a 'try me' kind of way. "And just how much does a suite in an establishment such as this cost." She said leaning on the desk. The woman returned the tone. "three thousand dollars a night." she said crossing her arms.

Carolina stepped back from the desk the price didn't phase her. "perfect, I'll take a room please."

she reached into her belt and pulled out a platinum card. She had Epsilon transfer all of the remaining thirty million dollars from Project Free Lancer to her account. She was now comfortably wealthy. "Oh you know what. I like you. I think I will pay extra to have you carry out ALL of my requests." the woman behind the desk grabbed the card from her and swiped it into the system. Her jaw dropped when she saw the balance on the card. She handed the card back to Carolina and handed her the key to her room. "Room 203. take the elevator up one floor and its to your left." the woman did not go back to smiling after that. "Aren't you going to show me to my room your self?" Carolina said, a smile creeping on her face. The woman looked to the floor and walked out from behind the desk and escorted Carolina to her room.

"This is it." she said swinging the door to the room wide open. The brilliance of the room hit Carolina like a wave. She had never stayed in such a nice place before. "This is your living area, down the hall to the left is the bathroom and to the right the bedroom. At the end of the hall is a small office area that you can do any. Work at." she said looking Carolina up and down. Obviously making a comment to her line of work. "And the kitchen is just to the right here and the dining room just behind that. Now if that's all I should get back to my desk." Carolina smiled pleased that she had made her point to this woman she nodded. "yes you may go now." the woman spun on her heels and strode off "thank you." she said her voice filled with humility.

Carolina closed the door and Epsilon appeared in front of her. "Nice place." He said.

"ya well get used to it. We've got enough to keep us going for a while." she said heading down the hall to the bedroom. "you might want to start with some civilian clothes." Epsilon said following her.

"tomorrow. Right now I could really go for some sleep." for the first time in months Carolina shed her armor to the floor. She felt naked without it. She stood in the middle of the room in her under suit. The thin black suit fit tightly to her body. Slowly she peeled away the seams and it too fell to the floor. Now she stood truly naked in the room. A mirror hanging above the dresser caught her she walked slowly toward it. As she approached she could see clearly what she had become. She was tall thin and was well built. But what caught her eye were the scars all over her. One stood out the most a long line crossing from her side to almost center of her abdomen. She placed two fingers on it and followed it from end to end. The memory popped into her head. She had gotten it years ago back when PFL was still operational. A shard of glass caught her there when she was chasing an insurrectionist soldier across roof tops to get a briefcase that held their success to their mission. She didn't realize she had it until the adrenaline slowed down and the pain was overwhelming. Then she turned around and lifted her hair. A small gray chip protruded from her skull. Epsilon. Below that was another scar four inches in length. That memory filled her mind and she shuddered.

She was on the edge of a cliff after being thrown from the mother of invention after its crash landing. Maine had cornered her and ripped the A.I chips from the back of her head then tossed her over the edge like a piece of trash. She was the first victim of The Meta. The fall was supposed to kill her but she landed in a break in the ice. The cold water chilling her bones. She swam to the surface as fast as she could. The pain in the back of her neck gnawing at her telling her to give up but she refused. When she surfaced she climbed out onto the ice fields and took shelter in a shallow cave nearby. She applied bio-foam to the wound and let her armors systems heat her. Sheltering her head under her arms. She had lost her helmet back on the ledge of the cliff.

Carolina snapped back from the memory. She let her hair fall back down and crawled under the covers of the bed. It was soft, too soft for her but still it wasn't long until sleep came to her and she was out. Yet another thing she hadn't done in a long time came to her during her sleep. A happy dream. She dreamed of a happier time back when all of her friends were alive she was sitting next to York while North told her and York and Wash stories about when he and South were younger. She could see South in the corner mopping that he was telling them the story. Then Wyoming came into the dream placing a plate of delicious food in front of each of them. But not one for him self. He never made up a plate for himself he just loved to see everyone's reactions to his latest creations. But he wasn't smiling this time. This was taking place after his undercover mission to Tayros.

The official story was that he had witnessed all of the people he befriended during his time there die during their assault on the insurrectionist camp. But she knew better. He had found someone on the planet that he fell deeply in love with and was missing her dearly. Wyoming caught her looking at him and smiled at her. His mustache flicked upward at the sudden movement. "Well. How is it?" He asked. Carolina returned the smile and said. "Its wonderful you've outdone yourself this time Wyoming." she turned to york and placed her hand on his cheek. He smiled at her. She moved in to kiss him but she woke up just before they made contact. Carolina exhaled deeply. Blowing several strands of hair out of her face just to have them land back where they were.

She ran her hand through her hair and placed the stray strands behind her ear. "Epsilon what time is it?" She asked. His sprite appeared before her. "Its just after 10:00 am. Yikes you might want to cover up." Carolina looked down to see that she had kicked of the covers in her sleep. She scrambled and grabbed a sheet wrapping it around her body covering up her breasts. Her face turned a shade of red she didn't know existed until that moment. "Thank you." She said. It was a pointless comment. The fact that he even brought up the point that she was showing everything was because he used to be alive. Living a normal life but now he's trapped inside her head. The fact that she was embarrassed that he saw her naked was another thing. She remembered back to when she first enlisted in PFL all of the recruits stood in a line completely naked and were told to run an obstacle course like that and only when you had a time under three minutes could you get your clothes back. Back then she wasn't the hard ass she is now. She was one of the last to complete the course along with York and C.T. She wasn't embarrassed then so why was she now?

She swung her legs out of the bed and made her way to the dresser. Clutching the sheet tightly around her neck. She opened the top drawer and grabbed a bra and under ware. Then the second and grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. She turned back to Epsilon with a scowl. "Go away for a bit." He got the hint and blinked out of existence. She put on the civilian clothes. The T-shirt was too tight and clung to her and the pants were too short showing a good portion of her ankles and lower legs. She made her way back to the dresser and opened the other side. She pulled out a men's T-shirt and pants and put them on instead. She felt even more embarrassed knowing that she couldn't fit into a normal woman's clothing and had to resort to men's clothes. She grabbed her Platinum card from her belt and stuffed it into her pocket. She detached her pistol form the thigh plate and removed the holster from it placing it on her belt. She checked the chamber of the gun checking that it was clear. Satisfied she slid the slide back into place and replaced it in the holster. She grabbed an extra magazine from the built in backpack of her chest piece and stuffed that too into her back pocket. She made her was to the kitchen and opened the fridge to see a ton of ingredients. "I wish Wyoming was still alive. Then I could have taken cooking lessons from him. A knock came at the door. She walked over to the door and opened it one hand floating close to her holster.

It was the woman form the desk. "I have your room service for you Miss. Church." she pushed a small aluminum cart into the room and lifted a platter onto the table in the dining room. "If that is all I have other duties to attend to." she said. "Who placed this order?" Carolina asked looking at the platter taking a deep breath the smell of bacon and eggs filled her nose. "You did." Carolina tilted her head back. "Right. Sorry yes that's all good bye." the woman pushed the cart back out of the room and down the hall. As soon as she was out of ear shot she closed the door and called out Epsilon. "Did you do this?" she said pointing at the platter. He nodded. "Why?" Carolina asked.

"you're staying in a five star hotel, you might as well enjoy some of the benefits. Such as instant room service." Carolina lifted the cover of the platter and looked the breakfast over. It was incredible. She sat down and started eating. Epsilon took his leave and blinked out again.

After breakfast Carolina made her was back down to the lobby. Before she left she walked up to the desk clerk the woman made a sound of disapproval. "Just a quick question. You wouldn't happen to have a map of the city would you." the woman reached down under the desk and pulled out a pamphlet the size of Carolina's hand. "Ten dollars." she said. Carolina smiled and laughed a little. "nice try but that sign there." pointing behind the woman. "says that all information is free. And seeing as this map is information its free." the woman scowled and cursed under her breath. Carolina cocked her head to the side and gave her a big smile. "Thank you, Alisha." she said reading the woman's name tag. Carolina grabbed the map off of the desk and spun on her heels the running shoes she was wearing were a lot lighter then her armors boots. She spun on her heels and walked out of the lobby and out into the street.

She unfolded the map and looked it over. A small mall caught her eye. _There. _She thought. _I can buy supplies there. _She folded up the map and tucked it into a pocket in her pants. The mall was only one block way but all of the people in the streets made it difficult to move forward. It took her close to fifteen minutes to reach the malls entrance.

The mall had to three times larger then the hotel. She walked through the revolving doors of the mall and entered a massive plaza. Path ways all around the plaza all converged to the center where a tall fountain poured pure clear water in mesmerizing arcs. The plaza branched off in five directions. The ceiling of the plaza was all glass as to let in the natural light. At night lanterns lining the paths would light up giving it the effect that it was out doors. A central speaker system played soothing music across the mall.

Carolina walked up to a map of the plaza on a nearby wall. She spotted the 'you are here' marker and then found a woman's clothing store just down the path to her right near the end. She started on her way. The mall was less crowded then the streets. But were still full of rushing people, trying to get to the store with the best deal. Carolina didn't have that worry. She walked along at a pleasurable pace taking in the beauty of the malls design. At last she reached her destination. The store was rather large. Dresses and tops lined the walls cute tops and tight pants were folded neatly on open shelves. In the back corner she could see that shoes took up close to ten meters of walls. The need for such things always evaded her. Her whole life she grew up as a military directed girl its what her mother wanted for her. Carolina walked over to a dress hanging from a flimsy aluminum hanger. She picked it up and walked over to a mirror. Holding the dress up to her body she frowned at the dress. Living in armor had diminished her fashion sense. "It suits you." a voice from behind her said. Carolina spun around to see Stephanie standing behind her holding a pair of tight fit jeans. "You think so?" she asked looking back into the mirror. "Yeah it shows off your body but isn't too revealing. The color complements you natural hair color." Carolina nodded. Everything she said seemed to make sense. "still I'm just not sold on it yet."

"Then maybe you should try it on." Stephanie said.

Carolina walked out of the dressing room and stood in front of the mirror for the third time. She smoothed the fabric in front and rested her arms at her sides. The dress fit perfectly. She turned sideways to have a look from a different angle. "See." Stephanie said sitting on a bench not far way. Carolina had to admit the dress made her look more beautiful then she ever thought she could be. She walked back into the change room to change back into her clothes. "Have any plans tonight?" Stephanie asked. Carolina slid the thin straps of the dress off of her shoulders and let the dress fall of of her body. A shiver caught her and made her straighten up for a second. "No, why?" she responded. She picked up her pants put them on. "Just wondering is you would be interested in diner tonight. My husbands out of town for the night and its been a while since I spent some quality time with someone of my own gender."

"surly you have other friends that would be willing to go. We just met after all" Carolina said sliding her top on.

"Not really. Besides I think I'd like to get to know you a little better."

Carolina reattached her holster to her belt and opened the door. "Sure diner sounds fun."

"Great. Should I pick you up at the hotel?" Stephanie asked.

"Okay just get the desk clerk Alisha to call me down okay. Its very important." Carolina said in a stern voice.

"Oh. Whys that?" Stephanie asked truly puzzled.

"She thought I couldn't afford the hotels rates so I proved her wrong and am paying extra just to have her do all of my requests."

Stephanie giggled.

They each paid for their things and walked out of the store. The mall had gotten a lot busier since she entered. It was now as bad as the streets. Stephanie and Carolina pushed their way through the crowd. All of the sudden a man beside Stephanie dropped to the floor. Blood sprayed up and covered her top. She didn't so much as flinch. It wasn't until after the man started falling did the boom from the bullet being fired fill the air. It echoed all through out the massive plaza. Carolina instinctively pulled her pistol. But Stephanie put her hand out and stopped her. Carolina looked at the man. He had a knife clutched tightly in his hand. A civilian was trying to revive him but it would do no good. The bullet had entered through his left eye socket and exited through the back of his skull. He was dead and nothing was going to bring him back. Carolina looked up around the edges of the ceiling and spotted a tiny figure getting up from laying prone. He then walled backwards out of sight. "looks like my husband is just finishing up a quick job before he leaves for his trip." Stephanie was looking in the same direction as she was. "Is your husband a bounty hunter?" Carolina asked. She nodded. "And a damn good one too."


End file.
